


To love is sometimes to be the one who is loved

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Grief/Mourning, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Parent Death, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 07:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20093803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: Billy found him the memorial at the old Avengers Mansion, nestled between the many grey statues littered with the petals of long-dead flowers.





	To love is sometimes to be the one who is loved

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally supposed to be set in a graveyard at a headstone and everything and I had this whole in-depth part that was all written out that I was really proud of and then I flicked to the end of the comic to see if they had any writing on her headstone only to find out that THEY SCATTERED HER ASHES IM SUCH AN IDIOT OF COURSE THEY DID SHE WAS BURNED ALIVE ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH
> 
> Anyway. Enough about me and my continuity problems. This is just a short, simple fic that I came up with while I was procrastinating and not paying attention in class and Teddy missing his mum and Billy loving him no matter what. I know it's short (short and sweet, so easy to edit), but I think for what it is, the content isn't as bad as it could be. Let me know what you think, I hoped you enjoyed it. x

Billy found him the memorial at the old Avengers Mansion, nestled between the many grey statues littered with the petals of long-dead flowers.

She didn’t get a grave, mostly because there wasn’t a body to bury but partly because Teddy wasn’t sure what to put on it- only her name and the date she died would have been chiselled into the unforgiving stone. Teddy wouldn't even to have been able to put ‘a loving mother’ beneath her name, because, at the time, he no longer believed it. Billy had offered to make her a statue as he did for all the other fallen heroes, but Teddy didn’t believe that she deserved the title of ‘hero’.

The memorial was empty, not a single hero come to mourn a fallen friend. It had finally stopped raining, the sky still dark and a heavy drizzle resting on Billy’s shoulders. Teddy wasn’t wearing much- only his old red jumper and a ratty pair of pants that were so long that the hems at his angles were getting wet and dirty from where they dragged across the ground. He obviously hadn’t expected to stay as Teddy for long- if there was trouble and he was forced to switch to Hulkling, he had the tendency to burst out of his clothes, which would explain why he was wearing such a ratty set.

Teddy hadn’t noticed him yet, which was a little surprising, and Billy took the opportunity to creep up behind him and wrap his arms around his torso. When he stiffened he said, “Teddy,”

Under his skin, Teddy’s bones and muscles had begun to shift, but when he heard Billy’s voice, he sighed and placed his hands on top of Billy’s over his stomach. “Oh, hi.” He said quietly. “I thought you were supposed to meet Tommy at the café?”

“I was,” Billy hummed into Teddy’s skin. “But I changed my mind when a little birdy told me that you were hanging out at the memorial, all alone. What’s wrong?”

Instead of replying, Teddy changed the subject. “Little birdy? Would this little birdy happen to be a purple-clad archer who has never minded her own business in her life? That reluctantly goes by the name ‘Hawkeye’?”

Billy rested his chin on Billy’s shoulder. “Stop changing the subject. What’s wrong?”

“I mean, nothing’s _wrong_,” Teddy inevitably gave in. “It’s just… I miss her. And I know this all happened so long ago and that she was never technically my mum, but I still miss her. Sometimes I turn to say something to her when she isn’t there, or I ask her questions with no reply, or I put on her favourite shows and music but… I’m not talking to anyone. I just forget that she isn’t there with me anymore.”

“She was still your mother,” Billy said. “Maybe not biologically, but she raised you and read you stories when she tucked you into bed at night and scared away the monsters under your bed and made you’re your favourite meals when you were sick. She still loved you like a mother would love a son.”

Teddy sighed through his nose and tried to focus on Billy’s warmth pressing up against his back, a nice moment in the cold, dreary day. “I know, but sometimes it’s hard. I never knew my real mum, and now I have all these memories of a woman who I didn’t even know. Not really.”

Subconsciously, Billy trailed his fingers down below Teddy’s shirt to where the rough, crisscrossing of scars still marred the flesh of his abdomen from the vivisection long ago, and Teddy immediately stiffened but did not pull away as Billy gently traced his fingers across them. “You're royalty,” Billy laughed into Teddy’s skin, the idea still completely alien to him. “And your father was one of the greatest heroes of all time. I’m dating an emperor _and_ a legend.”

“Well, technically, you’re dating the _heir_ to the Skrull throne,” Teddy corrected. “And I’m not really a legend. Not even my father knows I exist. I can’t be a legend to anyone if my father doesn’t even believe that he has a son.”

Sighing through his nose, Billy tilted his head back to glance at the statue of Captain Marvel that he had created for Teddy when they finally had a free moment in between finding lost relatives and trying to prevent a war, and maybe it was just Billy’s own creative licence, but he couldn’t help but notice how similar he looked to Teddy. “You know, I’ve always been good at knowing when you’re not telling me the whole story,” Billy said as he turned back to Teddy and placed a kiss beside his ear, the piercings cool against his lips. “There’s something else bothering you. Something you don’t feel like you can tell me.”

Finally managing to tear his eyes away from the horizon, at the place he had last seen his mother’s ashes, Teddy turned around in Billy’s arms until they were face-to-face and Teddy could look down at his wide, honest eyes and feel nothing but love. “Sometimes…” he began, Billy’s eyes filled with so much emotion that he had to glance up, but it didn’t really help that his father’s statue was directly in his eye line. “Sometimes I feel alone.”

Billy frowned, his fingers tightening in Teddy’s jumper. “Alone?”

“It’s got nothing to do with you, not at all. In fact, you’ve been great.” Teddy placed a kiss to Billy’s head. “You’ve always been the best thing to ever happen to me. But sometimes I just feel… like I’m the only person who understands me. Like I’m in a big house all alone, even though you’re on the couch beside me. I don’t know. It sounds so stupid now that I’m saying it out loud but… I just can’t shake the feeling.”

“No, no, I understand. I sort of felt like that before I met you,” Billy replied as Teddy rested his chin on his head. “My parents were always there, but I felt like they just didn’t understand. They weren’t the right kind of company. So you saying that sometimes you feel alone even with me… I don’t take any offence. But I’m glad you were able to tell me.”

Teddy looked so relieved that Billy was caught a little off guard. “Oh, you have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that.”

Pulling away slightly, Billy laughed, though it didn’t sound convincing even to his own ears. “What? Did you think I would be mad at you or something?” It hurt Billy a little bit to say it out loud and he just hoped that Teddy hadn’t noticed.

“I didn’t think you’d be mad, no,” Teddy admitted, somewhat reluctantly. “I just didn’t think that you would understand. I was hoping you weren’t thinking that I was trying to avoid you or be distant from you on purpose. If I ever was at all, that is.”

There had been moments, of course, but Billy had never really noticed them. They all had their moments, and Teddy had more reason to have them than most. The scars under his fingers and the very reason they were in the memorial in the first place was a testament to that fact. It was a wonder he didn’t have them more frequently, to be honest. “No, I never noticed it. And if I did, it was only ever something small.”

“Hey,” Teddy reached up and cupped Billy’s face in his hands, looking him deep into the eyes, so deep that he was almost drowning in them. “You know I love you, right? And feeling alone and sad and afraid every now and then isn’t going to change that. I’ll always love you. Just because I might not always show it doesn’t mean that I don’t always mean it.”

Billy smiled, a genuine one that pulled at his cheeks until they hurt. Teddy’s skin was cold against his face from being out in the wind and the rain for so long, but the sheer size of them compared to Billy made up for the lack of warmth. “I know. And I love you too. It’s just sometimes hard to remember that I’m allowed to be loved, just as much I’m allowed to love.”

“Well,” Teddy’s face lit up as he wrapped one arm around Billy’s torso and spun him around. “I guess I’m just gonna need to do a better job at reminding you of how much love you deserve.”

Laughing, Billy let Teddy half-drag-half-carry him out of the memorial. “I won’t say no to that.”

“Good,” Teddy chuckled and Billy was glad to see that there was none of that previous sadness anywhere on his face. “Because I’m not giving you the option.” Billy couldn’t help but laugh at the stupid joke, Billy darted a glance down at his watch. Teddy noticed. “I hope Tommy’s not still waiting for you at the café.”

“Probably not, you know how impatient he is. Super-speed must be such a pain.” Billy smiled. “But I’d better text him and let him know to expect another person for lunch.”

That seemed to make Teddy backpedal a little bit. “What- Billy, you don’t have to do that. Really, I can go hang out at the library or something, or wait back at the apartment until you get back. Please, don’t sabotage your own lunch date with your brother for me.”

Billy snorted. “Please, it’s not sabotaging if you’re saving me from my impending doom,” he smiled up at Teddy, having to crane his neck to look into his eyes. “And I thought we just decided to start spending more time with one another. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

“No,” Billy mused. “I suppose I’m not.”

He didn’t seem all that troubled about it, either. Billy decided to take that as a win.

**Author's Note:**

> For all the YA fans out there, I may have another of these fics in the works, but it depends on how good it is and how excited I am to write it because we all know how few and far between these fics sometimes get


End file.
